Have you ever made a mistake or done something you knew was wrong?
Of course you have…we all have.
So let me ask you, how do you respond after your failure?
Do you wallow? Do you spend time feeling sorry for yourself or get mad at life’s sad state of affairs and complain incessantly? Do you hide in a dark corner, isolating yourself? Do you snap at people that try to help you because deep down you feel you deserve the shame that comes with your wrong doing?
Does any of this sound familiar?
What do you do after you commit sin? How should you respond? Because the truth is, while God may be disappointed with our bad choices; He’s not surprised. He’s not caught off guard. He has seen and known the sins we will commit long before we were even created…and yet…He still forgives us. He loves us and longs for our happiness. But most of all, He still chooses us to proclaim His glory. We just have to find the clarity and motivation to get out of our own way.
I’m reminded of a story about a woman, who in the throes of her sin of adultery, is caught by a group of men…Pharisees. During this time in Jewish history, Pharisees were considered the most expert and accurate expositors of Jewish law. In this woman’s case, she had committed a crime worthy of being killed by these law keepers and specifically by them stoning her to death.
I can only imagine the fear this woman felt as she was surrounded by these men and then dragged through town and into a temple of worship. And as if that humiliating experience wasn’t enough, she’s then thrown at the feet of the most well-known teacher of God in the land…Jesus of Nazareth.
Don’t you think that at some point in her life, this woman knew her sin would be found out? If the punishment for adultery was death, then it’s almost a certainty that she lived day in and day out; knowing her fate. I mean, we know most of the laws in our world today, don’t we? At least the really important ones dealing with life and death. So yes, this woman was being risky with her very life by choice.
We’re no different, are we? We know the difference between right and wrong, and yet we still choose sin sometimes. Sure, we don’t live in a place where a lot of our sins are punished by death, issues of morality are mostly not considered crimes in the legal since. But there are still consequences for our sin, right? Of course there are. And sometimes the worst of those consequences reside in the punishment we give to ourselves. We let our past mistakes hold us back…like chains.
The good news is, like the woman thrown into the temple, we also have Jesus. And I’m sure, that in that moment this woman knew her life was over, she was certain of it. But then Jesus came forward and challenged the Pharisees, “Let the first stone be thrown by the one among you who has not sinned.”
Can you imagine the scene after Jesus’s challenge? The echo of His words and the silence of everyone in earshot as they realized the power and truth of what He said. Scripture doesn’t say that the Pharisees or anyone else argued the point…instead they stood in a moment of silence…and then one by one left the temple, until the only ones that remained were the woman and Jesus.
That seems fitting, right? Because if we’re honest, at the end of our bad choices…after the hurt to ourselves or to other people has been inflicted. When all around has fallen and the world has gone away, it’s just going to be you and Jesus in the room. It will always end that way at some point.
“Dear woman,” Jesus said. “Where is everyone? Are we alone? Did no one step forward to condemn you?”
“Lord,” the woman began. “No, no one has condemned me.”
“Well, I do not condemn you either; all I ask is that you go and from now on avoid the sins that plague you.”
--John 8:1-11 (VOICE)
Jesus doesn’t put her down or tell her that she should put her life on hold and simply exist in her past mistakes. He doesn’t tell her things that might hold her back or even make excuses for the poor choices she’s made in life. Instead, He drops his right to condemnation of her and asks that she avoid the sins that she’s become accustomed to committing; and to move forward with her life.
Brothers and sisters, He’s asking the same thing of us. And we can either step forward into the beauty of grace or we can be stagnant in the misery of our past.
I encourage you to fight to move forward. Look for the lesson that God is trying to teach you and allow yourself to grow. Instead of complaining and feeling sorry for yourself, learn what you need to learn from God to change…truly change…and then move on. It’s important that you take the time to view your failures in life as a chance to learn more about yourself.
Life is hard and we’re going to make mistakes and bad choices. Make yourself accountable to only make them once.
